When photographer Bryant Austin came eye-to-eye with a humpback mother whale swimming with her calf, it changed his life. He decided he wanted to recreate that experience for others by making a life-sized print of a whale -- something that had never been done before. So he quit his job, sold his house, and flew to the South Pacific armed with only a snorkel and a camera. Bryant Austin joins us to talk about his book, "Beautiful Whale," and his secret to getting within three feet of the mammals, without them swimming away. We'll also talk to a marine biologist about the efforts to protect whales.

Los Angeles voters headed to the polls Tuesday to elect a new mayor. We talk about the race between L.A. City Councilman Eric Garcetti and City Controller Wendy Greuel, and what the outcome means for Los Angeles and the rest of the state.

NFL team owners voted Tuesday for San Francisco to be the official host of the 2016 Super Bowl. The event will be held at the San Francisco 49ers' soon-to-be constructed $1.2 billion facility in Santa Clara. We look at the economic and social impacts the event will have on the Bay Area.

San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Jeremy Affeldt is being called the most honest athlete in America, after he was overpaid half a million dollars and handed it back. He joins us in the studio to talk about his new book, "To Stir a Movement," his Christian faith, and his work against child slavery and child poverty.

In the suburbs of East Contra Costa County, the poverty rate has grown by more than 70 percent in the past decade. That's part of a Brookings Institution report chronicling the rise of suburban poverty nationwide. The report found the rate of poverty in suburbs has grown twice as fast as it has in the cities, but anti-poverty programs have been slow to respond and are still mostly focused in urban areas. We discuss the rise of poverty in the suburbs, and what can be done about it.

On Monday, troubled internet giant Yahoo announced it will purchase Tumblr, the social media and blogging network. We speak with the Silicon Valley journalist who broke the story about what Yahoo hopes to gain from the $1.1 billion acquisition, whether it can increase its appeal to younger audiences and the implications for Tumblr's loyal user base.

Journalist Jon Mooallem noticed that his young daughter was always surrounded by wild animals: butterflies on her pajamas, a stuffed toy owl, and beavers in her bedtime stories. But these romantic portrayals, he says, hid a harsh reality. Scientists estimate half of all species could be gone by the turn of the century. So he embarked on his own journey to track down three endangered animals, and discovered the extreme -- even futile -- lengths humans go to save them. Jon Mooallem discusses his book, "Wild Ones," and the complex intersections of man and nature.

A new edition of the most widely used psychiatric guide to mental disorders -- "The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders" -- was released this past weekend in San Francisco at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association. The manual has a big impact on public health, including what insurance companies will cover, the drugs that regulators will approve, and even which children will receive special education services. But critics say that the manual is outdated and question the validity of several new diagnoses.